The present invention relates to an air bag placed in a print cartridge and a method for manufacturing the same and, more particularly, to a folding type air bag and a method for manufacturing the same, which applies to a print cartridge of an inkjet printer to fill its volume and adjust its back pressure.
Printers are the primary data output devices among computer peripherals. Recently, inkjet printers have been developed to have a high-quality printing effect and a low cost so as to become standard equipments of computer. One characteristic of an inkjet printer is its diversified variation of colors. In the design of a print cartridge including inks of various kinds of colors, the ink-out smoothness and the consuming rate of ink are taken into serious consideration.
A print cartridge comprises an ink reservoir and a printing head. When not in use, in order to avoid stains or blocking of the printing head, a back pressure is usually added in the ink reservoir. That is, when the ink-storage capacity in the ink reservoir decreases, the back pressure rises to prevent leakage of ink. When the exterior pressure decreases (e.g. during transportation high up in the air), it is necessary to keep an appropriate back pressure in the ink reservoir. When ink gradually goes out for printing, the back pressure will rise along with decrease of ink. Once the back pressure exceeds the range of the ink-out pressure of the printing head (i.e. the back pressure is larger than the ink-out pressure required for printing texts and pictures), smooth ink-out actions for printing will no longer be feasible. When ink gradually runs out, rise of the back pressure will also let normal ink-out actions for printing be unfeasible, hence wasting residual ink in the partial cartridge.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,526,030 disclosed a pressure control device. As shown in FIG. 1, a bubble generator 25a is disposed in an ink reservoir 15a of a print cartridge 1a. The bubble generator 25a has a pipe 26a connected with exterior air. A ball 27a is disposed in the pipe 26a. A gap (not shown) is disposed at the contact portion of the pipe 26a and the ball 27a. A liquid seal is formed by the capillary phenomenon to isolate the ink reservoir 15a from exterior air. Simultaneously, the generated bubble enters into the ink reservoir timely. When ink goes out for printing, the back pressure of the ink reservoir 15a will start to rise. When the exterior pressure is larger than the pressure of the liquid seal, the bubble will enter into the ink reservoir 15a to lower the back pressure in the ink reservoir 15a. A liquid seal immediately forms by the capillary phenomenon to isolate the ink reservoir 15a from exterior air again. Generation of bubbles of the bubble generator 25a depends on the surface tension of ink and the design of the gap""s size. Therefore, the design of the bubble generator 25a differs according to different inks. The pipe 26a needs to be located in the ink to truly exploit the bubble-generating function. Once the exterior pressure decreases, leakage of ink cannot be avoided.
R.O.C. Pat. No. 438,684 disclosed another pressure control device. As shown in FIG. 2, a print cartridge 1a comprises an upper portion 11a, a first sidewall 12a, a second sidewall 13a, and a bottom portion 14a, which form an ink reservoir 15a. A pressure adjuster 28a and a bubble generator 25a are disposed in the ink reservoir 15a. The pressure adjuster 28a has an air bag 10a, a pressing plate 21a, and a spring 20a. The air bag 10a has a first receiving room 33a and a second receiving room 34a. The pressing plate 21a has a first surface 22a and a second surface 23a. One end of the spring 20a is connected to the first sidewall 12a of the print cartridge 12a, and the other end thereof is connected to the first surface 22a of the pressing plate 21a. An outside of the first receiving room 33a contacts the second surface 23a of the pressing plate 21a. An air vent hole 32a for free flow of air is disposed between the first receiving room 33a and the second receiving room 34a. An outside of the second receiving room 34a contacts the second sidewall 13a of the print cartridge 1a. The second receiving room 34a has a guide pipe 24a connected to the upper portion 11a of the print cartridge 1a to communicate with exterior air. The bubble generator 25a is disposed at the bottom portion 14a of the print cartridge 1a. The bubble generator 25a comprises a pipe 26a, a ball 27a, and an elastic component 29a. The pipe 26a is disposed at the bottom portion 14a of the print cartridge 1a to communicate with exterior air. The ball 27a is disposed at the top of the pipe 26a to prevent air from entering into the ink reservoir 15a. The elastic component 29a is fixed at the bottom portion 14a of the print cartridge 1a, and has a first portion 30a and a second portion 31a. The first portion 30a contacts the ball 27a. The second portion 31a contacts the first surface 22a of the pressing plate 21a of the pressure adjuster 28a. A printing head 19a is disposed at the bottom portion 14a of the print cartridge 1a. When the back pressure rises, the air bag 10a of the pressure adjuster 28a inflates a let the pressing plate 21a push the second portion 31a of the elastic component 29a. The first portion 30a of the elastic component 29a will thus leaves from the ball 27a to lift the ball 27a so that exterior air can either into the ink reservoir 15a. A bubble can thus be generated to enter into the ink reservoir 15a, hence lowering the back pressure. After the back pressure decreases, the spring 20a will exert a force onto the pressing plate 21a to deflate the air bag 10a so as to restore the elastic component 29a. The ball 27a will again prevent air from entering into the ink reservoir 15a. Therefore, keeping of the back pressure will not be affected by the surface tension formed by different kinds and properties of ink. Moreover, it is not necessary to precisely design the size of the pipe 26a. However, the design and manufacturing of the air bag 10a of the pressure adjuster 28a limits the ink-storage capacity, hence not meeting the requirement of full usage of ink. Moreover, due to creases formed by retractile actions of the air bag 10a, the effect of the air bag 10a inflating repetitively and the functions of other devices disposed in the ink reservoir 15a will be influenced.
Accordingly, the design of the conventional print cartridge has inconvenience and drawbacks in practical manufacturing and use. The present invention aims to resolve the problems in the prior art.
The primary object of the present invention is to provide an air bag placed in a print cartridge and a method for manufacturing the same, whereby the air bag can fill the ink-storage capacity in the print cartridge so that ink can be used up completely.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an air bag placed in a print cartridge and a method for manufacturing the same, whereby the manufacturing process of the air bag can be simplified and sped up.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an air bag placed in a print cartridge and a method for manufacturing the same, whereby the proceeding direction of the air bag can be easily controlled.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an air bag placed in a print cartridge and a method for manufacturing the same, whereby creases will not be generated when the air bag inflates and then deflates, and the functions of other devices in the print cartridge will not be easily influenced after the air bag inflates again.
To achieve the above objects, the present invention provides an air bag placed in a print cartridge and a method for manufacturing the same. The method comprises the following steps.
(1) A layered material having double faces of different ingredients is provided;
(2) A side membrane is placed with a high-melting-point ingredient facing downwards and a low-melting-point ingredient facing upwards;
(3) A connection membrane is placed with the high-melting-point ingredient facing downwards and the low-melting-point ingredient facing upwards;
(4) A folding membrane is placed with the low-melting-point ingredient facing downwards and the high-melting-point ingredient facing upwards;
(5) A folding membrane is placed with the high-melting-point ingredient facing downwards and the low-melting-point ingredient facing upwards;
(6) A connection membrane is placed with the low-melting-point ingredient facing downwards and the high-melting-point ingredient facing upwards;
(7) A side membrane is placed with the low-melting-point ingredient facing downwards and the high-melting-point ingredient facing upwards;
(8) Thermal pressure is performed to integrally from the whole air bag.
The present invention provides an air bag placed in a print cartridge. The print cartridge comprises an upper portion, a first sidewall, a second sidewall, and a bottom portion, which form an ink reservoir. The upper portion has an ink-filling hole and an air vent. The ink-filling hole has a plug. The bottom portion has a printing head. Ink is received in the ink reservoir. The air bag comprises side membranes whose one face adhering a low-melting-point ingredient and whose other face adhering a high-melting-point ingredient; folding membranes whose one facing adhering the low-melting-point ingredient and whose other face adhering the high-melting-point ingredient, and connection membrane whose one face adhering the low-melting-point ingredient and whose other face adhering the high-melting-point ingredient. The peripheral size of the folding membrane corresponds to that of the side membrane. A connection hole is opened at the folding membrane. The peripheral size of the connection membrane is larger than the size of the connection hole of the folding membrane. An air vent hole is opened at the connection membrane. The size of the air vent hole is smaller than that of the connection hole of the folding membrane. The periphery of the low-melting-point ingredient of the side membrane connects the periphery of the low-melting-point ingredient of the folding membrane to form a first receiving room and a last receiving room. The peripheries of the low-melting-point ingredient of two folding membranes are connected together. The periphery of the low-melting-point ingredient of the connection hole of the folding membrane connects the periphery of the low-melting-point ingredient of the connection membrane. The peripheries of the low-melting-point ingredient of the air vent holes of two folding membranes are connected together to form other receiving rooms having connected air vent holes. A folding air bag capable of inflating and deflating is thus formed. Ink can be received in the air bag. The ink reservoir forms an air-storage capacity (i.e. an air tank), while the air bag forms an ink-storage capacity (i.e. an ink-storage bag).
The various objects and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the appended drawing, in which: